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Monthly Archives: August 2014

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Oh yeah, it’s FRIIIIIIIIDAY! I’m gearing up for a crazy three-day weekend of sewing, watching the greatest college football team of all time, and reading! #thuglife

But before I dive in to my wild weekend, I have some fun and fabulous fan girl finds to share!
I’m sure you’ve all seen the a-dork-able Funko Pop Vinyl figurines at Hot Topic. So cute, right? Look at what line was just released!

“You can’t take the cute from me.”

It’s the gang from Firefly! Now you can totally recreate your favorite scenes with these cuties! (Funko also recently released THESE!)

I used to be somewhat cynical, but after having a kid, I’ve become so soft (and I’m not just talking about my abs–hey oh!). These next pictures totally made me tear up like a big ole baby!
Holly Spring is the mother of a little girl who was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s Disease as a baby, leaving her without a left hand. The photographer mom wanted to take some photos of her daughter to inspire her that she can do anything or be anything she wants to be. Check it out:

This week, we got some very devastating news. Our favorite Japanese feline, Hello Kitty, we are now being told is not an actual cat! Hear that? That was the sound of my heart breaking. Some folks (ME), however, refuse to accept this. So, at this moment, Hello Kitty is both a cat and not a cat. Sound familiar? You can celebrate this Sanrio stalemate with these cute (and also morbid) Schrodinger’s Cat Earrings from Think Geek!

It seems like everyone I know has some hidden–or not-so-hidden–talent. Huff the Hubs can play guitar, piano, and trumpet. My dad can build ANYTHING your imagination can come up with. My mother is a crochet ninja; my sister is a master baker; and practically everything my other sister touches turns to gold. So where does that leave me…?

I’ll tell you where: impressions.

No, not painting. Actual impressions. But not of people…of goats.

I honestly have no idea how this impression came about, but ever since I was about 12 years old, I found I was able to do a dead-on impression of a goat. So dead-on, in fact, that my friends would CONSTANTLY ask me to do the impression. In between classes, during assemblies, in the middle of church. You name it, a goat sound was heard.

Even now that I’m almost 30 (gulp) I’ll see friends from middle school and they’ll ask me to “Do the goat!”

I really wish I had a more productive talent/skill. Seriously, how far does a goat impersonator go in life? And how can I utilize my talent for the betterment of mankind? I mean, everyone I mentioned above would be GREAT to have around during the zombie apocalypse. But me? I’d probably be the first one sacrificed to save everyone else.

Oh well. At least the zombies would have something laugh about as they gnawed on my legs.

What’s your hidden talent? Is it embarrassing like mine? Or is it more practical?

Ah, Tuesday. My second favorite day behind Friday. Today’s Try It Tuesday is highlighting some some tasty new supermarket finds!

While grocery shopping the other day, I happened upon these nummies:

As a coffee-lover AND potato chip connoisseur, I was ECSTATIC! Two of my favorite things rolled into one! As soon as I opened the bag, the sweet cappuccino aroma flooded my nostrils and I knew I was going to inhale the entire bag.

One chip, however, totally threw that thought out of my head.

I was hoping for more coffee flavor than potato chip flavor and I didn’t get it. So, these are not my fave. And now I have an almost full bag of cappuccino chips if anyone wants them.

Next up were these treats:

I love Oreos. When I was pregnant, I probably went through a pack a week of those cream-filled cookies! And I love that Oreo is trying so many new flavors (however I’d skip the watermelon AND the fruit punch ones; trust me). I was a teensy bit hesitant to try these because I don’t really like imitation root beer flavored things, like those little root beer barrel candies? Yeah, gross. But, Huff the Hubs LURVES root beer, so I bought them thinking he might like them too.

The taste was subtle enough to be absolutely delicious! It wasn’t overpowering and the fact that it is root beer float (i.e., there’s still vanilla cream in the middle) made it perfect! These are probably in my top three favorite limited edition flavored Oreos!

As you know, I have been working on a 31-Day Detox. It started out as a digital detox (i.e., trying to not use my phone for anything other than calls or texts) but I also added a few other habits I wanted to try and steer clear of:

~Gossiping

~Eating fried food

~Needless spending

So how’s it going now that the month is coming to an end? Well…let me break it down for ya.

Digital Detox

When I first started the digital detox, I did really well for about a week. I was getting good at only using my phone for texts and calls and I even deleted Candy Crush. I stopped looking at Pinterest as I laid in bed at night and I was getting some really good shut-eye! But, after a while, I started using my phone for stuff. It mostly small things like, “Oh, I need to track my food on Sparkpeople and I’m nowhere near my computer. I’ll forget if I don’t do it now!” or “Crap! Did I pay that bill online? I’ll just check my bank app and see if I did.” After that, it kind of snowballed. So I’m not 100% smartphone-free. BUT, Huff the Hubs has said that he can tell a difference and, sadly, even commented, “I feel like you’re more present.” That hit me right in the heart. I knew I had an addiction to my phone but I didn’t realize it was so bad!

Gossiping

This one was tough, for two reasons: 1., my life isn’t very interesting, so if I hear something “juicy”, I automatically want to repeat it; and 2., Its tough to distinguish between relaying information and gossip. I told myself that if I couldn’t back up what I heard from other people with facts or if I wouldn’t say something to that person’s face, I wasn’t allowed to say it to anyone else. I would say I did okay with this challenge. There were a few times I slipped up, but I have been learning a lot about self-control and making sure I think before I speak.

Eating Fried Food

Honestly, i didn’t think this one would be so tough. I don’t really eat that much fried food so why would this be hard*? But then I remembered Chick-Fil-A. you know, that red-and-white haven of tasty, tender chicken nuggets and the golden waffle fries…? Ah yes, you know. I typically eat at CFA once a week (typically while I’m out with Hermione and running errands) and since I’m still breastfeeding, I get crazy hungry if I haven’t eaten in a while. Thus, I stop at CFA to get a quick bite. When I realized I would have to give up my nummy nuggets and fabulous fries, I was a little distraught. I did pretty well for a while though, ordering grilled nuggets and a fruit cup. But, one day I was ravenous and fruit just wouldn’t do the trick. So I ordered grilled nuggets…and a waffle fry. And that one time turned into three more. Le sigh.

No Needless Spending

I truly thought that this habit was going to be the toughest to break. I work from home and so when I need some human interaction, I go to Target. And then I end up buying a bunch of crap I don’t need at the Dollar Spot. But this habit was actually the easiest. Whenever I walked into a store I would think, “Stick to the list, stick to the list” and only buy what was on the list. And now, my Slush Fund is lasting A LOT longer!

Even though I didn’t do perfectly, I still worked hard. Its tough to break habits in 30 days that have been formed over a series of years. I’m not going to let the end of August stop me from working toward my goals. I still want to put the phone down and be present; eat healthy, whole foods; watch my words; and make sure that I’m not just throwing money away.

What about you? Did you “detox” from anything this month? How did it go? Were you surprised by how you did?

That’s right, the moment we Whovians have been waiting MONTHS for is FINALLY here!

Tomorrow night we will be able to see the first episode with new Doctor, Peter Capaldi! I know some of us are sad to Matt Smith go (though, admittedly, I was more broken-hearted about the loss of David Tennant) its going to be really great to see a new incarnation of The Doctor!

And, I have everything you need to make your weekend fit for a Whovian!

Soak up the sun with this 4th Doctor-inspired towel from Think Geek! And, even better? It’s on sale! Woo!

Keep calm and carry a towel.

If you’re of age and want to give the premiere of Doctor Who a little Mad Men flair, try this Tardis-tini!

I know that its not Who-themed, BUT, this week everyone’s favorite fanboy director gave us a charge to donate to Force for a Change/UNICEF, as well as a sneak peek at one of the new X-Wing’s (even though the wings no longer make an X) from the set of Star Wars: Episode VII! Check it out!

Go donate, people! You could be helping make someone else’s life better AND possibly be able to visit the set! That’s every fangirl/fanboy’s DREAM!

No prompt/short story for today’s Writer Wednesday. I thought I’d instead give you some tips! There are many, many books out there that can help unleash the writer within as well as help you hone the skills you already have. Here is just a short list of books I think every writer should have in their arsenal.

I actually own this bad boy! And let me tell ya, it has come in handy SO many times! After about three hours of writing, your brain starts to turn to mush. So it becomes difficult to find another word that means sad. Soon all of your sentences say the same thing: “She was sad. He was sad. The turtle was sad.” And that, my friends, is just…sad dismal.

Fair warning, guys: today’s Try It Tuesday is about to get real, real fast.

The other night, my tummy was in some major pain. No, it was nausea. It was…. The other thing. Or, lack of the other thing.

Yep. That’s what I’m talking about.

Anyway, I heated up the rice bag and laid it on my tummy whilst moaning and groaning to an oblivious Huff the Hubs who was sucked into his world on Minecraft. I tried to distract myself and got on Pinterest and saw my sister sent me a pin. This pin:

Intrigued, I clicked the link. It took me to a blog written by a mom that had tried this on one of her kids. She said she had “almost instant success” so I tried it out.

What you do is, you lie down on your back, measure three fingertip widths down from your belly button, and then push that point with your finger.

This acupressure is supposed to help with backups and ease the pain.

So, I thought, “What the heck?” and tried it.

I measured and then pressed down as hard as I could, stopping short of “holy ^%$# this is agony!” territory. Though I didn’t have “instant success”, it did help with the pain after about a minute! I was even able to fall asleep! I could not believe it!

Take that, people that say acupressure is hokum!

Now, in an effort to take your mind off of bowel movements and make today’s post a little less gross, I have another Try It for you.

This is perfect for me because: 1. I’m so lazy when it comes to my hair and 2. I am hair illiterate. I blame my chubby, non-nimble fingers for my lack of ability to make my hair look awesome. Do you know how many times I have tried and failed at doing the sock bun? Too many to count.

Moving on…

I tried one that didn’t look too difficult. This one:

So here’s my before:

And here’s the after:

Yeah, not so much. My hair = ratchet. I told you I suck at this! I just need someone to come over and do my hair for me. (Hear that, Morgan? I’m talking about YOU!)

Have you ever tried any of these hacks? Did they work for you? What about the other Try It?